The present invention relates to garments generally, and more particularly to lightweight utility garments which can accommodate various accessory elements.
Many active occupations require that practitioners have any number of specialized tools, supplies, and materials on their persons for ready use at any time. Soldiers and police officers, for example, must carry weapons, ammunition, lights, food and beverage, etc. Yet in most situations there is a desire to avoid the carriage of extraneous items which might unnecessarily reduce the speed, agility, and endurance of the carrier. Hence it is desirable that accessories be capable of speedy attachment and removal from the wearer's garment.
Various accessory systems are known for attaching pouches and other elements to belts, vests, or other garments. A standardized attachment system employed by US military services is the U.S. Army's PALS (Pouch Attachment Ladder System) arrangement, illustrated in FIG. 1. This system can be provided on a belt or a vest 20, is and employs horizontal rows 22 of 1″ Mil-W-43668 Type III nylon webbing spaced 1″ apart, and attached to a backing fabric panel 24 at 1.5″ intervals. The PALS webbing defines an array of upwardly and downwardly opening loops 82. Pouches, pockets, holsters, and other accessories may be attached to the loops. Commonly, the PALS system is a component of a supporting vest such as those which are a part of the US Army's MOLLE (MOdular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) system.
Conventional MOLLE vests can interact with a wide variety of accessories and attachments which are configured for use with this standard arrangement of attachment points. Accessories attach to the loops with various hooks, straps or fasteners which engage with one or more of the loops. However, for the comfort and endurance of the wearer, it is desirable to reduce the weight of garments as much as possible.